


A Melody So Strange and Sweet

by vix_spes



Category: Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them (Movies)
Genre: Fantastic Beasts Kink Meme, Fluff, Friendship, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-13
Updated: 2017-08-13
Packaged: 2018-12-15 00:58:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,307
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11795127
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vix_spes/pseuds/vix_spes
Summary: Despite being an excellent dancer, Percival is usually an unwilling attendee at MACUSA events. Until, of course, a certain magizoologist becomes a consultant at MACUSA. with added incentive, Percival finds himself a not so unwilling attendee for the first time in his career.





	A Melody So Strange and Sweet

**Author's Note:**

> Written for [this prompt](http://fantasticbeasts-kinkmeme.dreamwidth.org/1184.html?thread=1170592#cmt1170592) at the Fantastic Beasts Kink Meme

“If there’s nothing else, Madam President?”

“Actually, Percival, there was one last thing. I’m sure it hasn’t slipped your attention that it is the MACUSA Yule formal next week…”

“Phee…”

“Percy. You’re the Director of Magical Security; you can’t not go. All of the elderly witches look forward to dancing with you so much; you wouldn’t want to disappoint them, would you? And not just the elderly witches. Don’t make me turn this into an order, Percy. You will be at the formal next week and you will dance the opening dance with me. Are we understood?”

“Yes, Madam President.”

“Thank you, Director Graves. That will be all.”

~*~

A week later found Percival reluctantly tricked out in his best dress robes and hiding in a darkened corner of the Woolworth Building. It wasn’t that Percival wasn’t used to being trotted out at situations like this; he was part of one of the Original Twelve families and had been on public display since his birth. That hadn’t changed when he became the youngest Director of Magical Security in the history of MACUSA. In fact, it had got worse. Percival even quite liked the dancing, having been given lessons almost as soon as he could walk. No, what he hated was being the centre of attention – or one of them – not to mention the constant demands on his attention. Normally when he moved around the Woolworth Building nobody dared to get in his way and, if they did, a simple glare dealt with them easily enough. By contrast, at social events half of MACUSA seemed to think that he was fair game.

He wouldn’t mind spending time with Seraphina – they’d been friends for long enough – but the demands on her time were even greater than his. Once upon a time he would have spent time with his senior aurors but, ever since the incident with Grindelwald, they had been treading on eggshells around him, constantly apologising for not realising that he hadn’t been himself and nothing that Percival said or did could get them to change. No, the only person that was treating Percival normally and who he wanted to spend time with at the moment was a certain British magizoologist.

Percival had been more than a little surprised to discover that it had been Newt of all people, aided by his case of creatures, that had found where Grindelwald had been keeping him; in Percival’s own office of all places, in a modified book. Percival had been even more surprised upon his return to work, to hear that Picquery had offered Newt a position as a consultant magizoologist, given the hard line that MACUSA had taken on beast extermination until now. After a few weeks, the entire Department of Magical Law Enforcement was willing to swear that Newt’s appointment was nothing but a brilliant idea. With Newt’s extensive knowledge, the aurors found that they were going into raids with more knowledge than ever which led to not only more successful raids but also less injuries amongst the aurors. Of course, as a result, Percival also found more and more creatures disappearing into Newt’s case instead of being exterminated, with Percival singing the requisite permits with nary a complaint.

Then again, that was probably due to the fact that Percival was apparently unable to say no when faced with one Newt Scamander. Percival had never had a weakness before but apparently, he had simply never met Newt before. All it took was a pair of blue eyes darting up to meet his somewhat bashfully and Percival was agreeing to anything, even signing off on permits for the most dangerous creatures. When he found himself wondering just how soft Newt’s hair was, whether the multitude of freckles were constrained to Newt’s cheeks and how Newt would respond to being kissed instead of reviewing the reports that fell under his purview as supervisor of the Federal Bureau of Covert Vigilance and No-Maj Obliviation, Percival knew that he was in deep.

“Percy.”

It was only due to his training and self-control that Percival didn’t jump as Picquery’s patronus appeared in front of him.

“Percival Graves. Stop hiding in darkened corners and come dance the first dance with me; your fan club is waiting.”

Percival rolled his eyes but adjusted his cuffs and made sure that his robes were wrinkle-free before squaring his shoulders and making his way to Picquery’s side, bowing formally as he offered his hand.

A hushed silence fell over the room as the two of them took to the centre of the floor and, even though he knew that as many people were looking at Picquery as they were at him, Percival couldn’t help the prickle of unease that rand down his spine. The music started and Percival allowed his training to take over, sweeping them around the dance floor, the epitome of grace. It was always easy to dance with Seraphina; she may be a few years his senior but there was a familiarity there that helped. It was also helped by the fact that, while she clearly felt guilty and there was a tension there that had never existed before, Seraphina was doing her best to treat him as she always had. He didn’t realise that his eyes had been scanning the crowd until Seraphina’s voice intruded into his thoughts and pointed it out.

“Are you looking for anyone in particular?”

“What? No! Why would I be doing that? Besides, who would I be looking for?”

“I don’t know. Maybe a certain MACUSA consultant?”

Percival didn’t have to see Seraphina’s face to know that there was a sly smile there. “Phee…” Despite Percival’s warning tone, he never broke stride in their dance.

“Percy. Just because you’re the Director of Magical Security and my right-hand man, that doesn’t mean you have to be married to your job. After everything that you’ve been through, you deserve to be happy. You _are_ happy when you’re with him; I’ve seen you so don’t try to deny it.”

As the song came to an end, Percival spun Seraphina out, giving a graceful bow as she curtsied in return. Walking over the offer his arm, he accepted the kiss she pressed to his cheek with only a modicum of outward surprise; somewhat unexpected behaviour for her.

“When you get your head out of your ass, he’s at the other end of the room trying to hide behind the Goldstein sisters. If it gives you a confidence boost, he didn’t take his eyes off you for the whole dance.”

“He could have been starting at you.”

“Trust me, he was starting at you. now, I wouldn’t want to deprive your devoted fans of the opportunity to dance with you; Auror Weiss’ grandmother looks particularly keen to steal you away. Enjoy the rest of your evening, Director Graves.”

“And yourself, Madam President.”

Picquery had gone less than two steps before, as she had said, Auror Weiss’ grandmother had taken her place. Luckily for Percival, she took control of the conversation – mostly about Auror Weiss – and all Percival had to do is concentrate on moving them around the dance floor without crashing and say the odd word in the right place. It meant that Percival was free to look out for Newt.

Now that Picquery had told him where to look, it wasn’t difficult to find him. Newt was, as Picquery had said, trying to hide between the Goldstein sisters, hunching in on himself as he always did but the distinctive copper colour of his hair was hard to hide and that was even without the beautiful kingfisher blue robes that Newt was wearing.

For the next hour or so, Percival danced with a seemingly never-ending line of ladies, both employees of MACUSA and relatives of the employees as well as guests who were descendants of the Original Twelve. He was perfectly charming to all of them and did his best to be attentive but, whenever they were at one end of the dance floor, he couldn’t help but be distracted by Newt. Thus, he noticed that while Queenie Goldstein, resplendent in a sparkling pink dress had no end of admirers wanting to dance with her and Auror Goldstein, looking quite unlike herself in a midnight blue number, took to the floor a few times, Newt always remained in the same place, looking awkward. Their eyes met on several occasions, although Newt always looked away rapidly, and Percival just couldn’t understand it. Surely if even he has noticed how sweet albeit strange Newt Scamander is, then others have noticed it as well?

  Finally, after dancing a rather upbeat number with Auror Weiss herself, Percival’s duties seemed to have come to an end and he threaded his way through the crowds to where he knew Newt was standing. By the time that he got there, both Goldstein sisters were on the dance floor and Newt was standing by himself although he also seemed to be talking to himself which would imply that Pickett the bowtruckle was in attendance. Percival just hoped that Newt had had the foresight to leave the Niffler in the suitcase because the paperwork that the carnage would create would be never-ending.

“Are you not dancing this evening, Newt?”

“Dir-director, I mean, Percival! Oh well, I’ve been asked a few times – Queenie and Auror Lopez and Senior Auror Fontaine – but, well,” Newt’s tone turned a little self-deprecating, “I’m not very good, you see. I’d probably just end up standing on their toes or falling over, you see.”

Newt’s eyes darted up to meet Percival’s before flitting away again. “It’s not that I _can’t_ dance. I mean, mum’s a Pureblood – she’s a Fawley by birth, so technically one of the Sacred Twenty-Eight – so she taught Theseus and I how to dance but well,” Newt shrugged somewhat self-consciously. “I always danced with ‘Seus so I can only really follow; I can’t lead.”

There was the opportunity that Percival needed and he pounced on it. “Dance with me then. I’ll lead and you can follow.” Percival fought the urge to moan as Newt bit into his plush bottom lip. “Please. It would be nice to dance with someone that I want to at one of these events.”

“V-very well, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

The band was already half-way through a song but Percival took Newt’s hand and led him to the dance floor, determined to capitalise on the opportunity before Newt changed his mind. The hand in his was elegant yet heavily calloused although, given the work that Newt did with his creatures, Percival wasn’t entirely surprised; Newt was nothing but devoted to his menagerie and would do anything he could to ensure their comfort and protection. The number the band were playing was another relatively up-beat one and it didn’t take long for them to realise that, while both men knew the moves for their respective roles, they couldn’t quite get in sync. They stumbled a few times, Newt did in fact step on Percival’s toes and, as they continued, Percival could feel Newt growing tenser and stiffer in his embrace. As the song drew to a close, Percival attempted a relatively simple under-arm turn but, of course, simple didn’t work for them. Instead, Newt seemingly tripped on mid-air and fell rather clumsily against Percival’s chest.

Both men froze in position but, before Newt could pull away and, in all probability, attempt to leave the event completely, the band segued into the next song and Percival seized the opportunity given to him. The song that they played had a far more relaxed tone. One might almost say that it was romantic; the way that the fairy vocalist was almost crooning made Percival think of some of the music he’d heard being played in No-Maj establishments when he’d been on assignments.

Newt’s tension seemed to dissipate with the change in tempo and, finally, they were dancing in perfect synchronisation. Percival was hyper-aware of Newt pressed against him and, despite the fact that Newt was several inches taller than Percival, they somehow fit together almost perfectly **.** Newt felt right in his arms and the last thing that Percival wanted was for this to be a one-time thing. As he manoeuvred them around the dance floor, Percival caught sight of the smug smile on Picquery’s face, the happy grin that Queenie Goldstein was sporting not to mention the way that her hands were clasped together and she was almost bouncing where she stood, a clear contrast to the somewhat torn expression that could be seen on Auror Goldstein’s face. He ignored all of them; despite the public setting, this was no-one’s business but his and Newt’s.

As the song ended, Percival found himself reluctant to let go of Newt and was more than a little gratified to see that Newt seemed just as reluctant. Stepping back, Percival came to a decision. Newt may be a little strange but he was undeniably sweet with hidden depths and Percival wanted to get to know him, even if it did also mean getting to know the coterie of creatures that came with him, part and parcel. Taking Newt’s hand in his and raising it to his lips, Percival pressed a kiss to the back of it, managing to catch Newt’s eye by doing so.

“Will you go out for dinner with me, Newt? Please? Pickett can come too if it will make you feel better.”

A charming blush spread over Newt’s cheeks that somehow highlighted the multitude of freckles rather than covering them. “Oh! Are you sure you want to?”

“Nothing would make me happier.”

“Oh! Then, yes Dir- Percival, that’d be very nice.”

As he led Newt back over to the Goldstein sisters, Percival felt rather pleased with himself. Maybe these MACUSA events weren’t so terrible after all.

**Author's Note:**

> If you would prefer to comment on DW, you can do so [here](http://vix-spes.dreamwidth.org/280608.html)


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